1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a floating-and-diving fishing plug with a propeller and oscillating leg elements providing sound and motion, both on the surface and under water.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Fishing plugs are made from bits of wood or plastic shaped like a minnow, frog, etc., and are all alike in that they are intended to look or act like something a fish might like to eat. A floating-and-diving plug floats when it is cast and has a lip that causes it to dive when it is retrieved, the depth at which it planes being determined by the angle and shape of the lip, the length of the angler's cast and the speed of the retrieve.
There are two ideal situations for floating-and-diving plugs. The first is when the angler is casting from a bank with a sloping shoreline where the plug can be reeled quickly as it passes over the drop-off and then slowly in the shallow area as it approaches the shore. The second spot is over a submerged weed bed in deep water. A floating-and-diving plug can be passed just over the weed tops when retrieved at the correct speed. It can be reeled very slowly when the weeds are nearest the surface and faster when they are more deeply submerged. If the angler sees a fishy-looking pocket, he can stop reeling and twitch the plug with short pulls as it slowly rises.
Floating-and-diving plugs are also useful for early morning and late-evening trolling, when the fish are feeding in water of moderate depth. Unlike straight-sinking plugs, floating-and-diving plugs are buoyant and will come to the surface when the angler slows down the boat or makes a short turn. This prevents the plug from getting snagged.
An ideal floating-and-diving plug would provide a satisfying solid ka-chunk when it is cast. It would disturb the surface when it is reeled slowly and it would make sounds and wiggle underwater as it is reeled quickly. The ka-chunk gives the angler confidence and the sound and motion attracts the fish.
A surface disturbing plug is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,791,064 to Van Iseghem, Jr. with a propeller and oscillating leg elements built to splash and wiggle on top of the water. In a preferred embodiment, a central drive shaft causes the legs to oscillate without requiring a positive connection between the shaft and the legs. The patented plug is not designed to dive as water flowing over the body would bend the front legs backward, possibly jamming the propeller. The Van Iseghem, Jr. plug, however, is a good candidate for modification as described herein because it provides good surface action.